the other side of the door
by Faerie0975
Summary: the first time that jade west stops on the opposite side of the door and begins to count, he's broken down the barrier and is with her again by four. but the last time that a door separates them and numbers count down to nothingness, it's different. / or, the five times that beck and jade are on the other side of the door.


**AUTHOR'S NOTE | **_All right, so because I'm crazy obsessed with writing about the door scene, here's my first one-shot ever. EVER. O_o_

* * *

The first time that Jade West stops on the opposite side of the door and begins to count, he's broken down the barrier and is with her again by four.

"I'm sorry," he whispers fiercely into her hair, wrapping his arms tight around her waist. She nods, shutting her eyes and burying her face in his chest, and they stay like that for some amount of time that she never really knows, just holding each other outside the RV, silent.

"Beck?" She loosens her grip and pulls back to look up at him through her eyelashes. "Say you love me." It comes out the way it always does, small and childlike, and she would hate it if it didn't make him look at her the way he is now.

He makes her say please, the way he always does. Then, after far too long, the words she's waiting for, the words that will make everything perfect again, come out. "I love you."

"Okay." Jade stands on her tiptoes to press her lips against his.

* * *

"I'm walking out that door," she says, the second time now, "and counting to ten." Beck is silent; they've been there before, and he knows what's coming. She doesn't even need to say it - but it's Jade, so she does, anyway. "If you aren't out there by ten, we're done."

He finally speaks as she turns away and starts for the door, but it's not the words that she wants to hear.

"Are you really doing this in your own house?"

Jade stops, if only for a moment, at the door. "Yeah. Yeah, I am." She nods decisively, turns the doorknob, and disappears behind a thick panel of wood. "One!" she shouts, hidden, and Beck starts for the door, sighing, rolling his eyes.

She's being ridiculous, overreacting, filling every moment with drama. But he loves her, so he'll put up with it.

* * *

"One."

She sounds bored. She's standing outside the RV again, arms crossed over her chest, one eyebrow raised as she stares at the door handle, waiting for it to move. Lifting one hand, she examines her nails like they're the most interesting thing in the world.

"Two."

This is the third time this has happened now, twice just in the past week. Beck runs one hand through his hair and starts for the door.

"Three."

Jade sits down, sinking down onto the cement of the driveway cross-legged. There's golden squares of light falling over her, dropping down from the house, but she doesn't turn to look. No doubt, Beck's parents are waiting in one of the windows, watching, hoping that this means that they're over. Maybe if she wishes hard enough, it will counteract them.

"Fo-"

But before she can get the whole number out, the door swings open and he's pulling her up and into his arms. Turning her face away from the house, Jade rests her cheek against his shoulder and smiles to herself.

The pools of light on the driveway blink and go black.

* * *

Well, this is different. Suddenly, the roles are reversed. The voice calling out numbers is deeper, slightly less determined, more hopeful. Beck waits outside the RV, pacing back and forth; Jade is curled up on the couch, frowning.

It's not like he can leave. She's in the RV, after all, and he'll have to come back in at some point. When the number ten rolls around, Beck will be opening his own door and things will be back to normal.

"Seven," he calls knowingly from outside. She hates that tone of voice, but because it's Beck, she never says anything.

"Beck? What's going on?"

Jade sits up a little straighter at the sound of a new voice. The RV has never been all that soundproof, so if she's silent enough, she'll be able to hear everything happening outside. She wipes away a few traitor tears and listens carefully.

"Nothing, Mom. I'm just..." There's a pause, and Beck sighs a defeated sort of sigh. His mother is looking at him with her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised, skeptical. It reminds him of Jade. "We're fighting again," he tells her quietly.

He can see the look in his mother's eyes, like she's not surprised. Both of them know that the Olivers aren't all that fond of Jade West, but even through a haze of disappointment at their son's choice, his parents know what love is.

"Beck?"

He spins to find that the door is open, Jade outlined in the doorway, and he thinks she's never looked more beautiful, even if her makeup is a little smudged. She smiles weakly and steps down onto the driveway, holding out her arms.

* * *

But the last time that a door separates them and numbers count down to nothingness, it's different.

Jade can tell by the way that nobody (not even her) rolls their eyes at Cat's useless comments. She can tell by the way that her voice sounds more and more broken with every syllable. She can tell by the way that her fingers don't even brush the cool metal of the door handle before she turns and walks away, alone this time.

Walking away alone is strange, foreign, unwelcome. She doesn't like it. She wants to have Beck's fingers laced through hers and a tiny smile playing on her lips, but this time, she's frowning and the spaces between her fingers feel empty.

But she tells herself that it's not her fault. It's him, it's Beck, because he's the one who didn't open the door. He had his chance.

Days pass, blur into nothing. It's not until weeks later that she finally realizes what to call this feeling. It's been lingering for weeks now. It settled itself in her heart and spread its cold, icy fingers through every vein the moment she reached ten and the door still hadn't opened.

Betrayal.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE #2 |** _Yeah, so it's short and sucky and whatever. But I was bored while I was waiting for my little sister to be done her swimming lesson. R__eviews are friendly! C:_


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